


Hints of Gunpowder

by aravenwood



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Badass Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Gun Violence, Hurt Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Needs a Hug, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Whump, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Rape/Non-con Elements, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26929426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood
Summary: Set post-movie. There’s a gun in his mouth and Nicky can’t breathe.Written for the Whumptober 2020 prompts "shot" (alt prompt) and "struggling.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947343
Comments: 32
Kudos: 362
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Hints of Gunpowder

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I'm back with more Old Guard (like anyone is surprised, I swear by the end of this month it's going to be my most-written fandom)! 
> 
> I realised while I was writing this fic that in almost every other fic I've had Nicky being rescued or protected by someone else and I wanted to write something which shows how powerful he can be. So this one has some vulnerable!Nicky followed by some badass!Nicky and I think this is a combination I enjoy. Plus I threw in some lovely Joe because let's face it, Joe and Nicky are just so much fun to write together.
> 
> TW for some insinuated mentions of rape - nothing happens and nothing is outright stated, but it's hinted at pretty heavily. Watch out for yourselves!

There’s a gun in his mouth and Nicky can’t breathe.

Even before Keane, it’s a gesture that has always sickened him. It’s too intimate, too personal and full of insinuations too crude to say aloud. As much as it’s only a few inches of difference, it’s nothing like being shot in the forehead. A shot to the forehead is a quick, efficient kill. It takes no time and it can be done with a single motion. But forcing a gun between someone’s lips, pushing it deeper into their mouth than necessary, and forcing them to lock eyes with their killer before the trigger is pulled, now that’s a murder full of intention and spite.

He can still feel the barrel on the roof of his mouth sometimes. Can still taste the gunpowder on his tongue like Keane was only yesterday. Sometimes it’s so bad that he can’t eat, can’t face the thought of having anything in his mouth.

Sometimes even Joe’s tongue is too much.

But in the year since it happened, he’s been getting better. The flashbacks are few and far between. He can kiss Joe, can let the man explore his mouth like it’s their first time. Some days he can even forget that it happened altogether, that his mouth has been tainted so cruelly.

The feelings are all rushing back now, as he strains against a hand in his hair and the barrel of the gun brushes the back of his throat. This man is not Keane, he reminds himself around a gag. This man has no name. He’s supposed to be an obstacle, a nameless guard who will either try to kill them or run if he’s smart (they’re never smart). He isn’t supposed to be this frightening.

Joe and the others are not around. He’s their sniper for this hit, there to watch over the shipping yard and ensure that no one tries to sneak up on the rest of his team. Maybe take out a few of them if he’s bored. None of them had expected him to be the one in danger. No one is even supposed to know that he’s here.

The guard with the gun in Nicky’s mouth grins. He’s enjoying this too much, exactly the kind of man who turns to crime when he realises that his fondness for violence is unwelcome in any decent job. “I guess it’s just you and me. Better get comfortable,” he says, but still tightens his grip on Nicky’s hair and pulls his head so far back that his neck is screaming in protest.

Nicky wants to say something, wants to snark back at the guard. But every time he even moves his mouth, the gun threatens to choke him once more. So he has no choice but to stay quiet.

He’s not sure he can even fight, not with the struggle he’s having even staying in the present. The face looming above him seems to be flickering somehow, the features distorting to become the man of his nightmares.

He can feel Keane’s breath on his face. Can smell the bitterness of it like it’s right there in front of him.

The guard shakes him roughly, the gun scraping against the flesh of his throat. “Come on, don’t you go drifting off on me before I’m done with you. Don’t want to blow your brains out until your friends are here to say goodbye.”

Wait…

For the first time Nicky remembers that if this isn’t Keane then he doesn’t know that Nicky will come back. He thinks that a bullet will end it, will permanently end Nicky’s life. Why hasn’t this occurred to him already?, Nicky curses himself, but a gentle voice in his head reminds him that this is a frightening, traumatising situation and that he’s entitled to be a little bit forgetful.

But this…this changes things. Suddenly he has the upper hand again. He doesn’t need the others, he can fix this himself.

He reaches up, wraps his hand around the hand holding the gun, and squeezes the trigger. Pain flashes through his skull and the world fades to white.

When he revives, he gasps and jerks upwards, his hand flying up to his throat. He’s shaking as adrenaline floods his veins but he can’t see, can’t hear, can’t even think. For a few frightening moments he can’t remember where he is, who he is, can’t figure out why his head and throat feel like they’re on fire.

The minutes after revivals are always the worst.

Then a hand grabs him by the throat and he reacts instinctively, swinging one hand high and catching his attacker in the eye. The hand drops its grip but he latches onto the arm to keep track of where he’s supposed to be hitting. Tracking downwards, he throws a punch at what he’s sure will be a stomach and grins wildly as his fist hits soft flesh. His attacker doubles over, stale breath cold on Nicky’s neck, and Nicky quickly grabs for a head. He places his hands on either side of his attacker’s skull and in one quick snap, the body falls limp.

Nicky pants and wipes his hands on his pants, then rubs at his eyes. The world swims into focus, growing piece by piece until it’s fully restored. His ears are ringing but he thinks he can hear shooting from far away.

Shit, the others!

He fumbles for his sniper rifle and lowers himself onto his stomach, and takes aim at the guards attacking the rest of the team. None of the team seem hurt; they’re covered in blood, but it’s splattered in a way that suggests it belongs to the people they’ve killed. They’ve been busy, it seems - there’s only a handful left, and Nicky only needs to fire one shot at a man coming up behind Nile.

When the guards are all down, Andy sends him a thumbs up from over 100m away and he smiles shakily. They start to head back his way and he takes the opportunity to roll onto his back and just try to breathe.

“Nicky, what the hell happened?” Nile exclaims when the team join him, all of them immediately noticing the dead body a few feet from him and the blood all down his front and covering most of his features.

Joe falls to his knees in front of him while Andy toes the body with her boot. Nile pulls out a cloth from her jacket pocket and passes it over to Nicky. He nods his thanks.

“He snuck up on me. I am fine. I dealt with him,” he says simply, wiping some of the blood from his face. He’ll explain the rest later. Maybe. From the look on Joe’s face, he already knows that something is wrong.

No one pushes, they seem to sense that now isn’t the time. Joe helps him to his feet and looks like he wants to kiss him but there’s not an inch of unmarred skin to be found. Instead he wraps his arms around Nicky in a tight embrace and says softly in his ear, “why do they always think you are a mouse?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
